G'day and welcome to another edition of the Adventure Kings Beginner's Guide to Camping.
In this episode I'm going to take you through what you need to know if it's
your first time camping on the beach so whether this is your first time camping
or you've done plenty of camping in the past but never on the beach then listen up.
Driving on soft sand can be a challenge at the best of times and if you're not used to it if you
don't do things properly there's a good chance you'll end up stuck so the first thing you need
to remember is to drop your tyre pressures this spreads your tyre footprint out and increases
the surface area hopefully meaning you glide over the sand rather than true down into it
I normally air my tyres down to about 15 psi depending on how soft the beach is but don't
be afraid to go a little bit lower if it's too soft and if you're towing a trailer make sure you
air down the trailer tyres too so it doesn't act like an anchor digging into the sand behind you
next make sure that you're actually in four-wheel drive and if you've got an older four-wheel drive
make sure you've locked your hubs in also you should definitely pack a recovery kit and in
particular a shovel or some recovery tracks with a shovel on hand there's not really that much you
can't get out of and having a snatch strap on hand means that if you do get stuck you can get moving
again in minutes but on that note make sure you don't chuck your entire shed in the back of your
four-wheel drive because packing too much gear is the quickest way to end up bogged on the beach
and finally do some research on the beach you're planning to hit in particular check if there's any
areas that you should avoid and double check your tired times because there's nothing worse than
stressing trying to get from one end of the beach to the other especially when the tide's coming up.
Now you don't really need much to camp comfortably on the beach but a couple
of these key items do help number one is a good shaded area whether you're using a gazebo or an
awning it's definitely nice to get out of the sun second is a mosquito net when the sun's going down
if the flies and the midges come out you'll love the fact that you can get away from them a mesh
floor is also nice to keep your campsite clean and makes a big difference in getting the sand
off your feet before you get into bed no one likes sanding their sleeping bag night after
night and another great way to keep your sleeping setup clean is with a small dustpan and broom
and another quick little tip that i like to use is get a bit of baby powder and sprinkle it on
any area that you might have sand stuck to you it's going to absorb the moisture
and the sand will basically fall right off also remember to pack plenty of water as it's pretty
easy to get dehydrated at the beach being out in the sun and the salt water finally
definitely remember the sunscreen it's very easy to get burnt and ruin your entire trip.
So when you're picking a spot to camp on the beach you really need to be aware of the
conditions and in particular the prevailing winds if the wind does pick up you're going
to want to be behind some sort of a wind break so you can use your vehicle or even
the terrain to shield you from the wind whether you're on the east or the west coast the wind
is generally going to be coming from the ocean but you do get the occasional southerly as well
and speaking of wind make sure you actually peg everything down properly even if it's
on a nice calm day make sure you're actually getting them down into the hard packed sand
so they're anchored properly or another option is to use a couple of sandbags finally be sure
that you camped well above the high tide mark waking up in the middle of the ocean is not
much fun and it can be pretty dangerous if a storm blows through or if there's a king tired
just like any campsite you need to take all of your rubbish with you don't leave it laying around
for animals to choke on for council workers or other campers to deal with if you're the
sort of grub that leaves all your rubbish behind for someone else to deal with after you're done
camping you're the reason why beautiful spots just like this get shut down every single year
before you head to bed make sure you clean up all your food scraps because you don't want to
attract animals into your campsite final couple things you need to be aware of is one be very
careful with glass because once it's broken on sand you'll never be able to pick up all of it
and secondly if you have a fire make sure you put it out properly with water rather than
bury it with sand the hot coals underneath the stand could stay hot for hours if not
days after you've already left camp it could cause serious injury or even a bush fire there
you go there's a couple of tips that you can keep in mind for your next beach camping trip as always
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